Inder und Frauenakt

Two nude figures, glowing in red and orange. They recline on a vibrant green blanket. It is a hymn to life, where intense colors collide. At first glance, this painting appears to be an unhesitating masterpiece of Expressionism. A longing for the exotic and a primal Eros. The vivid brushwork, influenced by Matisse, seems to celebrate freedom itself.

However, there's a period when the artist, Pechstein himself, 'erased' this painting.

In 1910, Berlin. The 28-year-old Pechstein was in extreme poverty. In his unheated Wilmersdorf studio, coffee and cigarettes were his only solace against hunger. He had a beloved: Lotte Kaprolat, then 17, who served as his model. Her black hair and soft skin. He poured his overflowing passion onto the canvas.